Fastening device



Patented Mar. 28, 1944 FASTENING DEVICE Charles H. Judd and Charles Giammatteo, Cleveland, Ohio, assignors to Tinnerman Products,

Inc., Cleveland,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 28, 1942, Serial No. 467,224

4 Claims.

The object of this inventionis to p ide a n of sheet material with effective means for holding it in definite position on a support of wood or similar material, so that the nut may be readily attached to the support and immediately upon mounting be available for the reception of a threaded bolt or screw without requiring the application of a wrench to hold the nut.

In accomplishing the result, we provide a body of sheet material formed with a bolt opening and carrying (either integrally or by means of an embracing clip) a diverted edge to engage the bolt thread. This sheet body has bifurcated portions bent at right angles to the body to provide two pairs of attaching legs. The legs are comparatively narrow and for the most part parallel with each other and lie in. the same plane in edge-to-edge alignment being spaced apart by an intermediate notch. The legs are long enough and of narrow enough width so that they may be bent outwardly in their own plane. Furthermore, these legs are beveled on their inner edges adjacent their free ends so that as they enter the wood or other support they will be caused to flare or bend outwardly and thus obtain a firm hold on the support.

Our invention is hereinafter more fully described in connection with the drawing, which illustrates three embodiments of the invention.

In the drawing, Fig. l is a perspective of an embodiment of our invention, made as a single integral member; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of this embodiment on a wooden support; Fig. 3 is a cross section in a plane indicated by the line 3-3 on Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the same fastener when mounted on a much thinner piece of wood; Fig. 5 illustrates an embodiment of our fastener made in two parts, where the thread-carrying member is a separate clip embracing the intermediate region of the leg-carrying member; Fig. 6 is a sectional side elevation of the embodiment of Fig. 5 in position on "a support of wood; Fig. '7 is a perspective of another embodiment of our invention, where the thread-carrying portion is positioned on a flange of the leg-carrying portion projecting at right angles to the base of the latter portion; Fig. 8 is a sectional side elevation of the embodiment of Fig. 7, in position on a wooden supporting panel and adapted to receive a bolt passing through a panel at right angles to such support.

Referring first to the embodiment oi Figs. 1

to 4, l0 indicates a strip of spring sheet metal having considerable width in the intermediate region and narrowing toward each end as shown at II. A bolt opening I2 is made in the wider part of this base and at the edge of the opening the metal is diverted to form the thread engaging portion of the nut. This thread engaging portion, as shown, comprises a pair of opposed oblique tongues l3 oppositely inclined on opposite sides of the bolt opening, the tongues having recessed ends and being warped to provide a helical turn corresponding to that of a bolt thread.

At the ends of the base portion II, the metal is turned down at right angles and is intermediately notched to present at each end a pair of thin, narrow legs l5 parallel with each other and spaced apart and lying in the same plane. These legs are beveled inwardly at their lower end as shown at It, which causes the legs to flare outwardly when driven into a piece of wood.

In Figs. 2 and 3 we have indicated, at A, a wooden board or similar support of a thickness greater than the length of the legs l5. This board has an opening a for the passage of a threaded bolt or screw. The fastener i 0 is placed against this board and the sharp legs driven into the wood until the base of the fastener lies on the face of the board, as shown in Fig. 2, with the bolt opening of the fastener registering with the bolt opening a of the board. The legs II hold the fastener in this position, so that a threaded screw or bolt, as shown at B in Fig. 2, may pass through a member 0 to be secured in place and passing through the opening a will receive its nut by the thread engaging portion of the fastener.

It will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2, that the fastener is very readily applied to the wooden support and positions the thread engaging portion to receive the bolt or screw. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 3 the inclined edges it of the fastenerlegs l5 cause those legs to gradually flare as they are driven into the wood so that the fastener becomes very firmly held on the wooden board, and there is no necessity for the application of a wrench, no matter how tightly the screw is turned in.

Fig. 4 illustrates the sam fastener applied to a thin slab of wood designated D. In such case the legs are driven entirelythrough the wood and against a suitable metal anvil, with the result that the legs not only flare but are forced outwardly in a curved form, as. indicated at It, due to the taper on the inner edges of the legs. Or the points of the legs may curl longitudinally as they strike the anvil or may take a course both longitudinal and lateral. In any case the legs become firmly interlocked with the wooden panel, obtaining a hooking action on the wood but entirely within the .wood.

The two Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate that the same i'astenermaybeusedonwoodensupportsof various thickness and operate eifectively to hold the fastener in place irrespective of the thickness of the wood. Evenif the support is very thin the fastener does not proiect beyond the under face .of the board but the 1e are diverted so as not to project beyond the surface thereof thus leaving the original smooth inner surface of such board. This is a very valuable feature where the support isquite thin as for example being made up of laminated plywood.

Figs. 5 and 8 illustrate an embodiment where the thread-carrying portion and the leg-carrying portion of the fastener are different sheet metal members. In this case the leg-carrying portion has a comparatively wide central region 28 with a bolt receiving opening 2| through it. Then beyond this region the metal of thB portion is offset downwardly and outwardly to produce two regions 22 from the ends of which are the downwardly bent legs 11' These legs are identical with those shown in Fig. 1, being spaced apart and aligned edge to edge and having tapered inner edges at 24.

The thread carrying portion of the fastener of Figs. 5 and 6 is a sheet metal member-2i doubled on itself to produce a lower arm having a bolt opening 18 and an upper arm carrying a diverted thread engaging portion shown as a pair of tongues 21, on opposite sides of an opening 28, the tongues being notched at their edges and warped as in Fig. l The upper arm of the thread engaging member is preferably curved upwardly slightly at its free end as shown at 2!. Just back of this free end the distance between the two arms is normally less than the thickness of the intermediate region of the leg-carrying member.

In using the fastener of Figs. 5 and 6, the

thread carrying member is shoved laterally across the leg-carrying member. The open mouth of the doubled member readily receiving the edge of the raised intermediate region 28, which cams the arms apart slightly and allows the thread carrying member to be readily slipped across the leg-carrying member. In final position, the fold of the thread carrying member abuts one edge of the leg-carrying member, while on the other side of the latter member the free edges of the two arms grip it so that the doubled member is held in place. In this position the lower arm of the doubled member lies between the two offset portions of the securing member and hence may not shift longitudinally.

Fig. 6 shows the device of Fig. 5 in position on a wooden board A having a bolt opening a. The two legs 23 of this embodiment flare apart in the same manner as shown in Fig. 3. line securing member is thus effectively held in position on the wooden board and holds the thread carrying member. in registration with the bolt opening a to receive the bolt without the necessity of any wrench applied to the nut.

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate another embodiment of our two member fastener. Here the supporting member 30 has two sets of attaching legs 3| and I! projecting at right angles to a base portion 33, while a flange 34 extends from this base portion in the opposite direction and at right angles to it. This flange has an opening 3! for the pasme of a bolt. The legs II are preferably turn d. (6

overfromtheendofthebase cated by the openiru 81, Fig. 'l, and extend parallel with each other and at rig t angles to base.

The thread carrying member 88 in the embodiment of Figs. '1 and 8 is identical with the member 25 above described with reference to 15g. 5. In Fig. 8, we have shown the securing member applied to a comparatively thin wooden panel I, the attaching legs extending entirely through thepanel andbeingspreadincurvestomakea hooked construction therein in the manner illustratedinFig.4. Thethreadcarryingmemberis sprungin place overthe flange and thus brings its bolt opening into registration with the opening 3! of the flange.

Fig. 8 shows another panel 1' at right angles to thepanelEandrestingagainstitandhavingan openingforthe passageofascrewGwhichpasses through the panel r and -flnds its nut in the thread eng n portion of the fastener. line construction of Figs. '7 and 8 is very useful where it is desired to secure together members at right angles, as, for instance, a removable top on a box or crate. While we have shown the angular fastener in Figs. 7 and 8 as of the two-part form, it will be understood that the construction might be integral, the flange 84 being provided with integral warped tongues as shown in Fig. 1.

Our fastener whether of the single integral form or of the two-part form may be made economically from spring sheet steel by dies and bending tools. By forming the attaching legs from a narrow portion of the fastener body so that they stand; comparatively close together, the two legs may be readily driven into the wood by the blow of a. hammer against the body portion at the end of the legs without danger of distort ing-the body. when in place the spread legs firmly attach the fastener.

Reference is hereby made to our divisional application Serial No. 495,714, fl1ed July 22, 1943, showing and claiming the modification illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, .and to our divisional application Serial No. 495,715, flied July 22, 1943, showing and claiming the modification illustrated in Figs. '7 and 8.

We claim:

1. A fastener comprising a body of sheet material provided with an opening for the passage of a bolt, and two comparatively narrow portions at opposite ends bent at right angles to the body. each bent portion being bifurcated to provide a pair of attaching legs, the legs of each pair being tapered at their inner edges more abruptly than at their outer edges to spread when driven into wood or similar material, the said body having a bolt opening and carrying thread engaging means about the opening.

2. A fastening device made of asingle pieccof sheet material comprising a substantially flat base portion having two sets of oppositely disposed attaching legs projecting therefrom, each set comprising two legs spaced apart but occupying an overall region materially less than the width of the base, said legs being beveled on their inner sides adjacent their free ends to cause the legs to flare when driven into wood, said body having a bolt opening through it and a distorted portion of the material of thebody adjacent the bolt openlngtoprovideapartialhelicalthreadto engage a bolt or screw passing through the opening.

3. A single piece sheet metalfastening device comprising a flat body narrowed toward its ends and having its end portions turned at right an gles to the body, each narrow end portion being formed into two attaching legs spaced apart but close enough to each other to be driven as a unit into a wooden support, the intermediate region of the fastener being formed with a bolt opening and a pair of tongues cut from the material oi said region and oppositely inclined toward each other and at an acute angle to the base, said tongues being recessed at their ends and warped to provide a helical turn.

4. A fastening device made of a flat strip of resilient sheet metal having an intermediate base portion and having end portions turned at right angles thereto and bifurcated to provide two pairs of attachinz legs, and lying in the same transverse plane and having their inner edges sharply tapered outwardly in opposite directions, said legs being spaced apart but comparatively close to each other so that they may be driven as a unit into a wooden support, there being a bolt opening through said intermediate portion and two opposed tongues partially severed from the base and inclining therefrom in opposite directions toward the central region and notched at their ends and warped to provide a helical edge adapted to engage a bolt passing through said opening.

CHARLES H. JUDD. CHARLES GIAWATTEO.

eachpairbeingflat 

